Canada coach makes 3 changes for Rugby World Cup quarterfinal against Australia
Canada coach Kevin Rouet has made three changes to his starting 15 for Saturday's quarterfinal against seventh-ranked Australia at the Rugby World Cup in England.
Courtney O'Donnell starts in the second row and Caroline Crossley slots into the back row at blindside flanker, shifting Fabiola Forteza to No. 8. Tyson Beukeboom and Gabby Senft drop to the bench.
Alysha Corrigan, who started Canada's first two games of the tournament, replaces Paige Farries on the wing.
Rouet has a 6-2 forward-backs split on the bench with Olivia Apps and Shoshanah Seumanutafa the lone backs.
Second-ranked Canada finished atop Pool B after wins over No. 13 Fiji (65-7), No. 12 Wales (42-0) and No. 6 Scotland (40-19).
The Wallaroos finished second in Pool A behind No. 1 England, defeating No. 15 Samoa 73-0 and tying the eighth-ranked U.S. 31-31 before losing 47-7 to the Red Roses.
"Our goal coming into the World Cup was to finish on top of our pool and we did that," Rouet said in a statement. "Now we have to shift our mindset to do-or-die rugby. We know what we are capable of as a team on the pitch and you can see how the team has been building through the first three games.
"The preparation this week has been about continuing to refine our skills and the details in our game so we can put together a performance to be proud of."
Canada's starting 15 goes into the match with a combined 518 caps with captain Alex Tessier, prop DaLeaka Menin and O'Donnell accounting for 179 of them. The eight-woman bench has a combined 330 caps, with lock Tyson Beukeboom looking to add to her Canadian-record 81 caps.
Canada is 7-0-0 all-time against Australia and won 45-7 the last time they met, in May in Brisbane in Pacific Four Series play. Each of those